In the ongoing story of PV2 Jessica Carter, we find Pvt. Carter as a Future Soldier assigned to the Central City recruiting center. She is an active member of the center’s Future Soldier Training Program (FSTP) and is very excited about her opportunity to serve her country and get training as an Army health care specialist. Two weeks ago, Pvt. Carter graduated from high school with honors and is counting down the days until she ships to basic combat training and then attend her advanced schooling to become military occupational specialty qualified (MOS-Q).

Staff Sgt. Johnson and Sgt. Morris are responsible for Pvt. Carter’s development and training while she is a member of the recruiting center’s FSTP. They are her coaches, mentors and counselors. Pvt. Carter relies on these two motivated NCOs to provide her with leadership and guidance; they give her a purpose and direction to not only succeed in the FSTP, but also to succeed as a Soldier in the U.S. Army when she ships for basic training in six weeks.Recall that Staff Sgt. Johnson completed the majority of the recruitment process with Pvt. Carter. He created a strong bond with her and the most influential people in her life, her mother and father. Staff Sgt. Johnson used his interaction with Pvt. Carter to mentor and train Sgt. Morris. Using on-the-job training techniques, he demonstrated a variety of tactics, techniques, and procedures to complete the performance measures associated with the critical task of leading a Future Soldier. One tactic he uses is the Future Soldier Training Function (FSTF).

Staff Sgt. Johnson is in the process of conducting a 30-day check on all the Future Soldiers by using an FSTF that he has been planning for the past 30 days. The FSTF is scheduled for next Saturday. Since it is October, the theme for the FSTF is Columbus Day – Discovering America. Staff Sgt. Johnson’s company commander coordinated the use of the Accessions Support Battalion’s M1A1 Abrams Tank Simulator from the Army Adventure Semi (AS1) that was scheduled to be in his battalion area during that timeframe.

Pvt. Carter helped spread the word about the FSTF and generated more than 150 invitations to leads in the area. These leads included individuals who graduated with Pvt. Carter, students going into their junior and senior years of high school, and several college freshmen who graduated the year before Pvt. Carter. Staff Sgt. Johnson ensured all of his COIs and VIPs were invited and his company commander coordinated invitations to every high school and college/university faculty member in the company recruiting area. There were more than 450 invitations sent out and 316 RSVPs of “Will Attend” have been received. In addition to invitations sent by mail, Sgt. Johnson uses social media to promote the event.

Staff Sgt. Johnson established a Columbus Day – Discover America Facebook page that invited everyone he had on his Facebook. Each of the center’s Future Soldiers also invited everyone on their Facebook pages. The Facebook page indicated that 123 people plan to attend, 87 might attend, and 114 are not attending. Staff Sgt. Johnson requested funding to support a BBQ caterer and there will be plenty of hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and sodas for everyone. Staff Sgt. Johnson knows how important these events are for Future Soldiers. They help keep Future Soldiers engaged and committed over long periods of time. Not only do these functions create leads that become prospects and eventually new Future Soldiers, they also motivate current Future Soldiers to remain committed to their decision to join the Army. Inviting COIs, VIPs, teachers, and other influencers when the event includes assets from the Army Support Battalion increases the effectiveness of the recruiting center’s network.

Another important part of the FSTF is the promotion of Pvt. Carter to PV2, along with promotions to PV2 for six other FSTP members. Pvt. Carter’s promotion is important to Sgt. Johnson because she is an outstanding Future Soldier and earned her promotion with distinction. During her five months in the FSTP, she referred a total of 17 leads through the FutureSoldiers.com website--six of whom enlisted--attended every FSTF, improved her physical fitness level, served in a Future Soldier Leadership position, and helped Staff Sgt. Johnson motivate other Future Soldiers. Although this will be her final function as a Future Soldier, she isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, she’s bringing two friends who may be interested in the Army with her to the FSTF. She is well on her way to being a highly successful Soldier in the U.S. Army and Staff Sgt. Johnson is proud of her and proud to call her one of his Soldiers. For a recruiter like Staff Sgt. Johnson, seeing one of his Future Soldiers ship to Basic Training is somewhat of a bitter-sweet affair.

Staff Sgt. Johnson knows from reviewing USAREC’s Morning Report that the majority of Future Soldier losses occur within the last 10 days of shipping to basic training. He sees a Future Soldier loss as losing a comrade in battle and he fights every day to keep his band of Future Soldiers together. Perhaps that is why he has never had a Future Soldier loss for apathy – a record other recruiters envy and aspire to achieve.

The Columbus Day Future Soldier Training Function ends up being wildly successful. Not only did it attract 356 total participants, the Central City Center collected 46 new referral leads and formed positive relationships with almost 100 influential members of the local community. A well-organized and high-visibility function, such as the one Staff Sgt. Johnson planned, can leave a powerful and lasting impression on the community—one that extends far beyond those in attendance. Future Soldier Training Functions are an important facet of both the art and science of recruiting; they encompass all three types of recruiting operations into a single event when properly executed. It is imperative that center leaders and recruiters take the time to plan effective Future Soldier Training Functions and incorporate them into the center’s ROP and battle rhythm.

From the beginning of the enlistment process of PVT Carter, Staff Sgt. Johnson made sure communication was always his forethought. If you have been following the progress, he engaged many people to ensure her enlistment went smoothly: the high school guidance counselor; his center leader, Sgt. 1st Class Miller; Sgt. Morris; Pvt. Carter’s mother, father, and other siblings; the MEPS guidance counselors; and many others when you consider the referrals that PVT Carter provided.

Future Soldiers are the lifeblood of the Army and the result of a lot of hard work from thousands of recruiters worldwide. The command lost 5,237 Future Soldiers in 2015, which, if you tally the total man-hours of work related to the recruitment process, equates to well over eight years of work lost. Staff Sgt. Johnson demonstrates his passion for the Army every day through deeds, not words. He learned early in his recruiting career that referrals tend to be the best lead source for an enlistment. USAREC garnered 7,811 Future Soldiers from referrals during FY 2015, which is a 25% conversion of the 31,086 referrals received. Proper follow-up and enhanced people skills tend to make the enlistment process from initial contact through ship enjoyable for all parties involved.